


A Mess (A Start)

by spicytofuuuu



Category: Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst with a Happy Ending, Exes, F/M, Idiots in Love, No Pregnancy, Safe to read if you are triggered by pregnancy, Schitt's Creek AU-ish
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-23
Updated: 2021-02-23
Packaged: 2021-03-13 04:14:20
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,828
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29645610
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/spicytofuuuu/pseuds/spicytofuuuu
Summary: Rey Palpatine used to have fame, fortune, and a fiancé. Then she lost the fiancé. Then she lost the fortune. Plenty of fame though—just not the good kind. And right when she thinks things can’t get any worse, life plays one last cosmic joke on her: the only person who’ll hire her is Ben Solo. Said ex-fiancé.(or: the schitt's creek-ish au no one asked for)
Relationships: Poe Dameron & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron & Rey, Rey & Rose Tico, Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 25
Kudos: 109





	A Mess (A Start)

**The Fall of Palpatine**

By Armitage Hux

Staff Writer, Coruscant Times

CORUSCANT — Sheev Palpatine, world-renowned real estate mogul and CEO of Palpatine Foundations, pleaded guilty on Wednesday morning on charges of embezzlement, tax evasion, bribery, wire fraud, and money laundering.

Mr. Palpatine, 86, falsified records in order to use the personal foundation as a piggy bank to advance his personal and political interests.

Mr. Palpatine has been cooperating with federal authorities since he pleaded guilty to the charges laid against him. He agreed to forfeit $59.7 million in illicit proceeds he received from the charity embezzlement scheme. His estate and funds were effectively frozen.

His charges could carry a prison sentence of up to thirty years, with his cooperation likely to result in a lesser sentence.

In a statement, Coruscant Attorney General Amilyn Holdo said the ruling was a first step in justice.

Rey Palpatine, Mr. Palpatine’s only granddaughter and face of the Palpatine Foundation, was released after investigation concluded that she has no involvement nor knowledge in her grandfather’s illegal schemes.

**(Read more on page 6)**

***

https://www.blabber.com/en/feature/4865223/behind-the-mysterious-disappearance-of-rey-palpatine

**Behind the Mysterious Disappearance of Rey Palpatine**

By Kaydel Ko Connix

Rey Palpatine is definitely _not_ living her best life. Nothing could have prepared her for this abrupt fall from grace.

Once an elite fashion icon, staple of the Coruscant high-society scene, the heiress of the great Palpatine estate has now lost everything. And we mean _everything._

Federal court documents confirmed the slew of charges against Rey Palpatine’s grandfather, Sheev Palpatine, while the source noted that the judge ordered their assets frozen.

Palpatine was last romantically linked to Benjamin Solo, a successful lawyer and grandson of the well-esteemed former senator of Naboo, Padme Amidala. A notoriously private couple, information about the Solo-Palpatine relationship remains scarce even after their break-up— although word on the street is that the couple were engaged before things came to an end. Multiple sources report that their relationship ultimately broke down due to irreconcilable differences— mainly Solo’s lack of ability (read: willingness) to support Palpatine’s self-described “lavish” lifestyle.

Palpatine was last spotted leaving her brownstone after her grandfather’s arrest and, two months on, hasn’t been seen since. Perhaps the heiress is adjusting to life on the other side of the tracks? It is highly likely that...

**(You must disable adblock to view this content.)**

***

_@DeliaSand_

Can’t help but feel sorry for @ReyPalpatine. Poor girl knows nothing and now she’s slammed with poverty. :’(

_@bogbogs_

replying to _@DeliaSand @ReyPalpatine_

oh boo-fucking-hoo. she’ll just have to learn how to live like the rest of us 99%

_@snippywexley_

“sit still and look pretty” definitely backfired on this one @ReyPalpatine

_@ellestyles_

i saw @ReyPalpatine pawning her so last season LV purse last week #howthemightyhasfallen #eattherich

_@hollygrapher_

tagging @coruscantcelebsighting spotted @reypalpatine lining up to get a subway card. like a motherfucking peasant #coruscantcelebsightings

_@beebeeate_

replying to @hollygrapher

wonder what’s next for our fave princess-turned-pauper?? happy meal at mcdicks? lol

***

**[Incoming Call — Hoe Damn-eron]**

“Hello?”

“She’s alive! Just when I thought I would have to send out a SWAT team or something.”

Holding back a chuckle, Rey replies, “Hello to you, Poe.”

“How are you holding up?”

“Gee, I don’t know. You tell me.”

She sighs as she moves to sit on the bench right across the street from Jakku Consignments, stretching her legs and watching people go in and out of the glorified pawn shop.

“That bad, huh?”

 _Yes—_ just five minutes ago she had to say goodbye to her favorite Dries Van Noten draped metallic silk-blend lamé maxi skirt and gold Bottega Veneta heels, in exchange for a measly three hundred dollars.

 _Three hundred dollars_ for items that retailed for three times that much just last seasonis borderline robbery, but it’s true what they say. Beggars can’t be choosers.

The sleazy manager—Plunk? Plum? Plu-something—did offer her significantly more money for the necklace she was wearing. But she isn’t parting with it that easily.

“It’s fine. Everything is fine. I’m fine.”

She’s getting really good at saying how fine she is. Maybe one day it’ll come true. The power of positive thinking and manifesting, or whatever bullshit that life coach Grandfather insisted on hiring kept on saying.

“You know I could lend you money, right?”

“Poe, no. I can’t take any money from you. It’s not right.”

A group of giggling girls walks past her, two of them looking at her as if they’re trying to place her in their memories. She hangs her head down, hoping they’ll never recognize her. She doesn’t dress like she used to. She’s traded her luxury gowns and designer shoes for unflattering shirts that come in a six-pack and discounted sneakers. She’s cut her hair short and she hasn’t worn make-up in god-knows-how-long, and when she does, it's a drugstore concealer to try and hide the newly-formed bags under her eyes.

“So what’s the plan?”

“I’ll find a job.”

“How’s that going, by the way?”

“Ugh. Poorly. It’s like the moment they see the name Palpatine they won’t even touch me with a ten-foot pole.” She stares at her fingers, fighting the urge to nibble on her already blunt, unshapely nails.

She resumes her thoughts, “I’m the plague. And the people who claim to be my ‘friends’ suddenly are not my friends anymore.”

So-called _friends_ who lost her number through the whole ordeal, the same people who conveniently opened their mouths to sell exaggerated versions of their friendship and fabricated intimate details of her life the minute the tides started to turn, all for their own fifteen minutes of fame. Rey can’t even bring herself to be that mad about it anymore. She doesn’t have the energy.

“Hey—I’m still your friend! You’ll have to try very hard to get rid of me.”

“That is very true. I appreciate you, Poe.”

“Which brings me to why I’m phoning you today... What if I were to offer you a job?”

She sits up straight. “Doing what?”

“To be an assistant.”

“You want _me_ to be your assistant?”

“Uh.” Poe chuckles rather nervously. “Not exactly. If I replace Rose I’ll get my balls cut off.”

“So _what_ exactly?”

Ten seconds of silence pass before he blurts out, “Ben needs an assistant. _”_

She bristles at his idea immediately. “No.”

“Hear me out.”

“No.”

“It’s not like you have anything better to do. You and I both know you’re running out of things to pawn. That’s not a sustainable plan, Rey.”

Poe might be right on the surface, but there’s a million reasons—or maybe just two or three—as to why this is a terrible idea.

“There’s no way I can be his assistant.”

“His assistant quit last week and his workload is getting too much for him to manage by himself.”

“Well, lend him your assistant, then.”

“Rose will definitely cut my balls off. Ben is too... _prickly_.”

It’s highly unlikely that Rose can’t handle Ben. Poe’s assistant is a force of nature wrapped in a very adorable container. Instead of Ben being too _prickly_ (even though he is), it’s more likely that Poe is a handful and Rose has her plate full of Poe’s shit to deal with.

“And you think it’s completely fine for me to work for him?”

“He’s got no choice. Neither do you.”

Ben, having no choice? She finds that incredibly difficult to believe. “What does he even think about this?”

“I’m sure he’ll be fine.”

“Poe, you need to stop whatever it is you’re doing.”

“Pray tell, what is it that I’m doing?”

“I don’t know, but I feel like you’re trying to force us all to get along.” She gets up and paces around the bench. “Micromanaging.”

“I’m not going to be an adult child of divorce, okay?”

If she could reach through the phone and strangle Poe, she would.

“Poe. I don’t think there’s any universe in which Ben is okay with his horrible, cold-hearted bitch of an ex-fiancée working for him.”

“Don’t say that.”

“What?”

“Degrade yourself that way.”

She digs the heel of her palm over her eye, rubbing it in circles, definitely prematurely wrinkling her skin. “It’s what everyone else is saying.”

“Get off social media, Rey. I mean it.”

She should. It really isn’t doing her any favors.

“Will you think about it?”

She doesn’t want to, but it’s easier to lie. “There’s no way he’ll be okay with it.”

“We’ll see.”

Poe and his goddamn optimism and relentlessness. It’s what kept him around even after Rey and Ben broke up. He didn’t choose a side and simply kept on hanging out with both of them separately.

“I’m hanging up now, gotta get back to work. Think about it, okay?”

She thinks about it.

She thinks about it long and hard.

And she’s come to the same conclusion she made while she was on the phone with Poe.

It’s a horrible idea.

***

_@beckyfanz_

Bet @ReyPalpatine wished she married that hot lawyer guy when she had the chance, huh?

_@palpyspulp_

replying to @beckyfanz @ReyPalpatine

heard she dumped him because he’s too p00r. serve the shallow bitch right

_@FlyBoy69_

replying to @palpyspulp @beckyfanz @ReyPalpatine

stfu

_@palpyspulp_

replying to @FlyBoy69 @beckyfanz @ReyPalpatine

@ReyPalpatine is a cold-hearted bitch wbk nothing new nothing surprising #karma

_@FlyBoy69_

replying to @palpyspulp @beckyfanz @ReyPalpatine

go outside and touch some grass or something. also shut your fucking mouth.

_@ReyPalpatine_

This account doesn’t exist.

Try searching for another.

***

Rey throws her body against the lumpy mattress, sighing in relief to have another day go by and nothing of note happen. Because that’s the story of her life now, isn’t it? Just when she thinks she’s hit rock bottom, it dissolves and plunges her into an even deeper hole of despair. To the point she barely bothers climbing out of it.

As the scratchy polyester-blend pillow cover scratches her cheek, she mentally calculates how much money she has and how long she can sustain living this way. Not that she wants to.

(Who would have thought Rey Palpatine would end up in a shady pay-per-day hostel? But she did. And she’s managed to stay alive, regardless.)

She closes her eyes and tries for a moment of reflection, but the streetlamp filtering through the cheap curtains and the buzzing conversations outside her room make it quite a feat.

Her mind goes to the day of the raid. She’s surprised that she was given fifteen _generous_ minutes to pack her personal belongings. Surprised and grateful, if she’s being honest. She managed to cram a handful of expensive items that proved handy for her survival in the following months in one nice Rimowa suitcase. She’s sold off most of them. The suitcase included.

Just not the necklace.

Her fingers wrap around the chain, the pendant pressing against her sternum, as she closes her eyes and takes deep breaths—hoping that this was all a nightmare and she’ll wake up in the comfort of her king-sized bed and soft silk sheets.

_How did it all go wrong? How could she have been so blind about Grandfather’s shady dealings? When did it all go wrong?_

There’s no point in beating a dead horse, because ultimately these are the facts: She has nothing and she’s a nobody.

A loud buzz interrupts her reverie and the intercom crackles to life. “Room 17, you have a guest.”

 _A guest._ Leave it up to Poe to come harass her in person. She lets the concierge know to allow Poe in (as if somewhere like here has a concierge. It’s a spotty nineteen year old manning the front desk, and each time she’s passed him on her way in and out, he’s been too busy playing Clash of Clans on his phone to pay any attention to her).

She’s ready to tell Poe to quit bugging her when she opens the door. Except it’s not Poe.

It’s Ben Solo.

_“Ben.”_

When she thinks back on this, at least she can hold on to the fact that she managed to sound noncommittal and aloof, even if it was just for a second. Even if she loses her cool immediately.

“What are you doing here?” She asks. “How did you know—Why are you _here_?”

He looks like he just came straight from the office, his shirtsleeves rolled up to his elbows and his tie hanging loose around his neck. His hair is disheveled, as if he ran his fingers through it a couple times but then combed it over without looking at a mirror. She congratulates herself for not trying to brush away the lock of hair that dangles over his brow.

He peers into her room, schooling the grimace that was rapidly forming on his face into a neutral expression, before turning his eyes back on her. “A _‘Hello, Ben, how are you?’_ would have been nice.”

“What are you doing here?” She pulls the door closer to her body, trying to block him from seeing any further, because he really doesn’t need to see just how much of her life is in shambles. Especially not after the way she left him.

He leans over the door jamb and clears his throat. “Can I come in?”

Rey finds herself crowded by his scent. Notes of sandalwood and cloves, with a hint of dried ink (because of course Ben Solo has to use fountain pens in this day and age) and sweat (as if he ran over here, but that’s not possible) layered over the unmistakable intoxicating core essence that is just _him_. It’s simultaneously all too much and not enough.

She takes half a step back. “Why?”

“If you want us to have a conversation in this hallway with _no privacy_ , that's up to you.”

Ben knows just how to push her buttons. Privacy, or what’s left of it, is a rare commodity for her. She sighs—loudly and on purpose—and begrudgingly lets him in.

“How did you know I was here?”

He ignores her question, running his finger over the imaginary lint on his shirt.

She narrows her eyes at him. He doesn’t have to say, but she _knows_. “Poe. That fucker—I told him to not tell—”

He cuts her off. “Anyway, how are you?”

“Ben, let’s cut to the chase. Why are you here?” She takes a deep breath and holds it. Maybe if she doesn’t breathe in the scent of his cologne she’ll be able to think more clearly.

“I’m here to offer you the job. Poe must have mentioned it to you.”

Her exhale comes out in a shudder. “Are you insane?”

He shrugs nonchalantly. “I don’t see you having any other option.”

“But why?”

“You need the money. I need the help. Simple as that.”

“I can’t.”

“Why can’t you? Do you want to starve?” His eyes wander around the small room and eyes her belongings. “I see you didn’t manage to bring much. Or you’ve pawned off everything you could bring.”

“Not ev—It’s none of your business.”

“Rey, I’m trying to help.”

“I don’t need your help.”

_What I need is your forgiveness, but I’m afraid I don’t deserve it._

“Listen. You’ll be doing me a favor anyway. You need the money, and I need the extra set of hands,” he pauses. “And you said it yourself, there’s nothing left between us. It shouldn’t be a problem.”

She can’t ignore the deliberate emphasis on the word _nothing_ , nor the brief look of hurt in his eyes, nor the sharp pain of her heart slamming against her ribcage upon hearing him say it. Her fingers unconsciously rub her chest, the pendant underneath her cheap shirt scratching her skin. Soothing.

Two can play this game of nothing then.

“Fine.”

“Great,” Ben says, smiling thinly. It doesn’t reach his eyes. “You can start on Monday.”

***

_“I see you have a habit of slumming it with commoners, Rey.”_

_“For the last time, Grandfather, Ben is an associate attorney at a prestigious firm.”_

_“Do you think I don’t know about his family? That peasant scoundrel Han Solo tainting the bloodline? Disgusting. And that grandmother of his, with her silly, silly ideologies. Good thing she’s retired. She was a thorn in my side for the longest time.”_

_“I don’t see why any of that matters.”_

_“I demand you to stop seeing him.”_

_“You can’t tell me what to do.”_

_“Don’t be stupid, you ungrateful little bitch. I made you. And I can destroy you.”_

_“I’m not going to stop seeing him just because you don’t like him, Grandfather. I don’t care if you cut me off.”_

_“Well, I have no doubt that you’ll survive. You’ve always been a stubborn little rat. But I have a feeling that you’ll be singing a different tune if young Solo’s on the line...”_

_“What?”_

_“You heard me. It wouldn’t take me long to dismantle his career, his livelihood, and that embarrassment he calls his family.”_

_“You wouldn’t.”_

_“Try me.”_

_“Grandfather, I—”_

_“You know what you have to do.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Fic title comes from this banging song from Snow Patrol, [Take Back the City](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VS1-6jfQHFg)!
> 
> Thanks to [Alex](https://archiveofourown.org/users/newseptembers) and [Bee](https://twitter.com/BeeBeeReads) for looking through this mess! Thanks to all my friends who encouraged me to keep on going! You know who you are!
> 
> Find me on [Twittah](https://twitter.com/spicytofuuuu)!


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